This invention relates to colored contact lenses and methods of making colored contact lenses.
Colored contact lenses are often used for cosmetic purposes to change the apparent color of a wearer""s irises. For example, a person with brown or blue eyes desiring to have green eyes may wear green colored contact lenses to change the apparent color of a wearer""s iris to green.
Conventionally, coloring of contact lenses for cosmetic purposes is achieved by printing a colored pattern onto a lens substrate via a pad printing process. The pad printing process employs a generally flat steel plate also known as a clichxc3xa9. A pattern (or depression) is etched into the cliche by a photo-etching process. In operation, ink placed in the pattern is transferred to the lens substrate by a printing pad. To achieve a colored lens of multiple colors, different colored inks are placed into three or fewer different patterns and serially transferred to the lens substrate by printing pads.
A disadvantage associated with conventional methods of coloring contact lens substrates is that such methods cannot achieve patterns of high detail or resolution. In other words, the printed pattern on the lens substrate does not have nearly the detail of a human iris. The inability to achieve patterns of high resolution also prevents use of more than three different patterns on a lens substrate. As such, an observer viewing the wearer""s eyes from less than five feet away may determine that the wearer is wearing colored lenses.
Knapp U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,402 discloses a contact lens substrate having an intermittent opaque pattern thereon with portions left uncolored to allow the wearer""s iris to show through. Knapp discloses that the pattern is not visible to the naked eye when viewed from a distance of at least five feet by an ordinary viewer (i.e., a person having normal 20/20 vision). However, the ordinary viewer viewing the wearer""s eyes from a closer distance might determine that the pattern is not a naturally occurring pattern. In other words, the ordinary viewer might correctly determine that the wearer is wearing colored contact lenses.
Jahnke U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,477 and O""Campo U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,705, like the Knapp patent, disclose contact lenses having opaque intermittent elements and noncolored regions through which significant portions of the wearer""s iris structure are visible. These patents disclose making the intermittent elements of a single contact lens having up to three different color elements. However, because an actual human iris typically is an intricate looking structure having hundreds or thousands of different colors, contact lenses of these prior art patents allow the structure of the iris to show through the uncolored portions. One disadvantage of allowing significant portions of the wearer""s iris to show through is that the visible portions of the wearer""s iris combined with the visible portions of the intermittent pattern sometimes results in an unnatural looking iris. In particular, if the wearer""s iris is dark brown and the colored elements of the contact lens pattern is light, the combination results in a pronounced, hyper-contrast which does not look natural.
Among the several objects and advantages of the present invention may be noted the provision of an improved colored contact lens; the provision of such a colored contact lens having an iris section colored in a manner to effectuate a change in the appearance of the wearer""s iris but which makes the presence of the contact lens substantially imperceptible to an observer observing the wearer""s eyes from a close distance; the provision of such a colored contact lens having a colorant image printed on the iris section of greater resolution than images printed on prior art colored contact lenses; the provision of a contact lens capable of effectuating a natural looking change in the appearance of the wearer""s iris regardless of the actual color of the wearer""s iris; the provision of a method of coloring a lens substrate in which the colored lens substrate more closely resembles a human iris than does a colored lens substrate made by conventional methods; and the provision of a method of coloring a lens substrate to form a colored lens having a pattern of greater intricacy.
Generally, a method of the present invention is for coloring a contact lens. The method comprises providing a contact lens having a pupil region and a generally annular-shaped iris region surrounding the pupil region, and providing a printer assembly having an inkjet print head. The iris region is adapted to at least partially cover a wearer""s iris when a wearer is wearing the contact lens. The method further comprises using the printer assembly to deposit at least one colorant on the iris region of the contact lens in a manner to alter the appearance of the iris of the wearer when the wearer is wearing the contact lens.
Another aspect of the present invention is a colored contact lens comprising a non-opaque pupil region, a generally annular-shaped iris region surrounding the pupil region and adapted to cover at least 80% of a wearer""s iris when the wearer is wearing the contact lens. At least first, second, third, and fourth colored patterns are on the iris region. The first colored pattern is of a first color. The second colored pattern is of a second color different than the first color. The third colored pattern is of a third color different than the first and second colors. The fourth colored pattern is of a fourth color different than the first, second and third colors. The colored patterns are arranged on the iris region in a manner to form an opaque composite pattern on the iris region. At least approximately 85% of the composite pattern is no more than one color layer thick. The composite pattern is configured and arranged to give the appearance of a natural iris when the wearer is wearing the colored contact lens, thereby providing a lens capable of altering the appearance of the iris of the wearer when the wearer is wearing the contact lens.
Another aspect of the present invention is a colored contact lens comprising a non-opaque pupil region, a generally annular-shaped iris region surrounding the pupil region and adapted to cover at least 80% of a wearer""s iris when the wearer is wearing the contact lens. At least first, second, third, and fourth colored patterns are on the iris region. The first colored pattern is of a first color. The second colored pattern is of a second color different than the first color. The third colored pattern is of a third color different than the first and second colors. The fourth colored pattern is of a fourth color different than the first, second and third colors. The colored patterns are arranged on the iris region in a manner to form an opaque composite pattern on the iris region in which no portion of the composite pattern is more than two color layers thick. The composite pattern is configured and arranged to give the appearance of a natural iris when the wearer is wearing the colored contact lens, thereby providing a lens capable of altering the appearance of the iris of the wearer when the wearer is wearing the contact lens.
Another aspect of the present invention is a colored contact lens comprising a non-opaque pupil region, a generally annular-shaped iris region surrounding the pupil region and adapted to cover at least 80% of a wearer""s iris when the wearer is wearing the contact lens. At least first, second, third, and fourth colored patterns are on the iris region. The first colored pattern is of a first color. The second colored pattern is of a second color different than the first color. The third colored pattern is of a third color different than the first and second colors. The fourth colored pattern is of a fourth color different than the first, second and third colors. The first colored pattern comprises a plurality of spaced-apart elements and the second colored pattern comprising a plurality of spaced-apart elements. The colored patterns are arranged on the iris region in a manner to form an opaque composite pattern covering at least 75% of the iris region. At least approximately 85% of the composite pattern is no more than two color layers thick. The composite pattern is configured and arranged to give the appearance of a natural iris when the wearer is wearing the colored contact lens, thereby providing a lens capable of altering the appearance of the iris of the wearer when the wearer is wearing the contact lens.
Another aspect of the present invention is a colored contact lens comprising a non-opaque pupil region and a generally annular-shaped iris region surrounding the pupil region and adapted to cover at least 80% of a wearer""s iris when the wearer is wearing the contact lens. At least first, second, third, and fourth colored patterns are on the iris region. The first colored pattern is of a first color. The second colored pattern is of a second color different than the first color. The third colored pattern is of a third color different than the first and second colors. The fourth colored pattern is of a fourth color different than the first, second and third colors. The colored patterns are arranged on the iris region in a manner to form an opaque composite pattern on the iris region in which no portion of the first colored pattern overlaps with the second and third colored patterns and no portion of the second colored pattern overlaps with the third colored pattern. The composite pattern is configured and arranged to give the appearance of a natural iris when the wearer is wearing the colored contact lens, thereby providing a lens capable of altering the appearance of the iris of the wearer when the wearer is wearing the contact lens.
Another aspect of the present invention is a colored contact lens comprising a non-opaque pupil region and a generally annular-shaped iris region surrounding the pupil region and adapted to cover at least 80% of a wearer""s iris when the wearer is wearing the contact lens. A multi-color composite pattern is on the iris region. The composite pattern comprises a plurality of distinct elements. Each of at least 25% of the elements have a surface area no greater than 6000 square microns.
Another aspect of the present invention is a colored contact lens comprising a non-opaque pupil region and a generally annular-shaped iris region surrounding the pupil region and adapted to cover at least 80% of a wearer""s iris when the wearer is wearing the contact lens. A multi-color composite pattern is on the iris region. The composite pattern comprises a plurality of distinct elements. Each of at least 20% of the elements are within 50 xcexcm of an adjacent one of the elements.
Another aspect of the present invention is a colored contact lens comprising a non-opaque pupil region and a generally annular-shaped iris region surrounding the pupil region and adapted to cover at least 80% of a wearer""s iris when the wearer is wearing the contact lens. A multi-color composite pattern is on the iris region. The composite pattern comprises at least 3000 distinct elements.
Another aspect of the present invention is a colored contact lens comprising a non-opaque pupil region and a generally annular-shaped iris region surrounding the pupil region and adapted to cover at least 80% of a wearer""s iris when the wearer is wearing the contact lens. A multi-color composite pattern is on the iris region. The composite pattern comprises at least twenty five different colors.
Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.